No verdict in Farnese fraud trial after first hours of deliberation

Jurors in State Sen. Larry Farnese's federal fraud trial began their deliberations Tuesday but adjourned for the day without reaching a verdict.

U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe handed the case to the panel of seven women and five men just before 3:45 p.m. They retreated to the jury room for less than an hour before asking to be dismissed for the day.

The jury is expected to resume discussions Wednesday that will determine Farnese's political future.

Prosecutors allege he bought the vote of a city committee woman, Ellen Chapman, during his 2011 bid to become leader of Center City's Eighth Democratic Ward.

But what government lawyers describe as a bribe – the $6,000 check Farnese's campaign issued to cover tuition for a study-abroad program for Chapman's daughter – the defense has painted as a perfectly legal act of constituent service that had nothing to do with the ward election.

The senator and Chapman, who also is charged in the case, have maintained their innocence.

Farnese's district includes Center City and stretches from Philadelphia International Airport north into Brewerytown and Port Richmond.

If convicted, he would be the third consecutive state senator for the district – after Henry J. "Buddy" Cianfrani and Vincent J. Fumo – to end his career with a federal corruption conviction.